Digital biomarkers hold great promise in advancing patient care through improved patient monitoring. The term digital biomarker refers to objective and quantifiable physiological and behavioural measurements which have been collected by means of digital devices such as wearables, fitness trackers and IoT technologies [1]. Some examples of digital biomarkers therefore include heart rate monitoring using smartwatches, smartphone-based step counting and medication usage tracking using digital inhaler sensors.
The use of digital biomarkers can improve patient care by enabling the remote and continuous monitoring of patients outside the clinical setting [2]. Digital biomarkers are therefore able to provide clinicians with a more complete picture of a patient's health and insights that are more reflective of the real-world environment [2]. These insights may influence clinical decision-making through better tracking of disease progression, treatment responses and adverse effects.
Digital biomarkers are also showing promise in a variety of different areas including healthcare and drug development. This article will focus on the unique aspects of electronRx's digital biomarkers and discuss specifically how they can benefit the pharmaceutical industry.
Unique and Differentiated Aspects of electronRx's Digital Biomarkers
electronRx is a deep-tech leader in the development of digital biomarkers for respiratory and cardiac conditions including atrial fibrillation, asthma, and COPD [3,4]. These biomarkers are collected using foneDx, electronRx's proprietary smartphone-only physiological monitoring technology. electronRx’s digital biomarkers are unique and differentiated from the myriad of wearables on the market in several ways:
- Our approach utilises sensing technology already built into mobile devices without the need for additional devices or hardware, making it both highly accessible and scalable.
- Using our approach biomarker collection occurs passively with little input from the user, reducing the chances of incomplete data or missed data points.
- Real-time dynamic monitoring of cardiovascular and pulmonary physiology through measurement of HR HRV, RR, and BP enables better tracking of changes in disease progression and treatment response over time and a more proactive response to care.
- Our technology is designed specifically for respiratory and cardiac conditions making the collected data more accurate and actionable for patients with these conditions.
- Continuous monitoring will enable the generation of new datasets which when paired with our data analytics capabilities may reveal previously unknown patterns and relationships and provide novel health insights.
- Our ML models can be used to predict the trajectory of a patient’s future respiratory or cardiac health.
Benefits of electronRx's Digital Biomarkers for the Pharmaceutical Industry
Beyond the clinical environment, digital biomarkers have the potential to revolutionise the pharmaceutical industry. electronRx’s digital biomarkers could specifically support pharmaceutical companies in the following areas:
- More efficient and effective data collection: Our digital biomarkers can enhance data collection in clinical studies by enabling the continuous, real-time monitoring of a patient's cardiac and respiratory health and thereby help provide a more complete picture of an individual's health.
- Improved patient selection. Our digital biomarkers can improve the selection of study participants by helping identify patients who are most likely to respond to a particular treatment, leading to higher study success rates.
- Improved study patient pool. Our digital biomarkers can provide access to additional patient pools. By enabling measurements to be performed at home the use of digital biomarkers can remove geographical constraints as well as obstacles that impact patient participation and retention such as having to take time off work or attend frequent clinic visits.
- More accurate results. Our digital biomarkers can reduce the reliance on subjective assessments and patient self-reporting which can introduce bias. Instead, they offer more objective and reliable clinical data on treatment responses and adverse events.
- Improved post-marketing surveillance of drugs. The use of digital biomarkers can be used to monitor the safety and efficacy of drugs in real-world settings following their approval and entry into the market. This can provide pharmaceutical companies with additional information about the existence and prevalence of drug-related potential adverse events.
- More personalised medicine. Digital biomarkers can be used to develop personalised treatment plans for patients. By tracking changes in disease progression, treatment responses and adverse effects over time, clinicians can identify the most effective treatments for individual patients as well as make more rapid adjustments to their treatment.
In conclusion, electronRx's digital biomarkers are a unique and differentiated technology with the potential to revolutionise healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry and improve the lives of patients with respiratory and cardiac conditions. Within the pharmaceutical space, electronRx's digital biomarkers could also prove transformative by helping to accelerate the development of new and more effective treatments by enabling more efficient clinical studies.
References
[1] Babrak LM, Menetski J, Rebhan M, et al. Traditional and Digital Biomarkers: Two Worlds Apart? Digit Biomark [Internet]. 2019;3:92–102. Available from: https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/502000.
[2] Coravos A, Khozin S, Mandl KD. Developing and adopting safe and effective digital biomarkers to improve patient outcomes. NPJ Digit Med. 2019;2:14.
[3] Blakey JD, Bender BG, Dima AL, et al. Digital technologies and adherence in respiratory diseases: the road ahead. European Respiratory Journal. 2018;52:1801147.
[4] Kramer F, Dinh W. Molecular and Digital Biomarker Supported Decision Making in Clinical Studies in Cardiovascular Indications. Arch Pharm (Weinheim). 2016;349:399–409.
